Confidently at your service: Advisors alter their stated confidence to be helpful

•The role one assumes in a social exchange affects the way one expresses confidence.•Advisors want to be helpful to advisees in their decision making.•They do so by increasing stated confidence when concerns of misleading are low.•The motivation to help the advisee reach a decision underlies the effect.•People consciously state high confidence in advice and expect others to do the same.